These finding seem weird to me, because every place I’ve worked has had older people in managerial roles. (On the flip side, I’m always weirded out when I meet people in their late 20s who are VPs of something or other.)
In my current industry, it’s common for upper level employees to have a masters degree or PhD. I’d estimate that most mid level managers are at least 40 and higher are easily in their 50s.
My good friend is a historian, and his profession skews very old with the upper managers working well past traditional retirement age.
I started working in a career capacity at age 22 after undergrad and was making an awful salary ($28,000 for an area just north of DC). My salary was around $60,000 when I was in my early 30s and going to night school for my MBA. I’m in a totally different field now and my salary is about $20k higher after a raise this year. I’m 36. I don’t expect a large raise again unless/until I can move to a managerial role (strict rules about salary in my industry). I can expect about $2,000 a year annual raises for a few years before that cycle slows a bit.
All that said, I do expect to be a manager eventually, but my earning capacity (unless I change job sectors) is probably $150,000.
